A Conceptual Framework for Asset Management for Japanese Highways
(Daisuke Mizusawa and Sue McNeil)

An asset management system is a decision support tool to identify
facilities needing treatment, and to find cost-effective treatments for
application at any given time to meet a desired level of service within
imposed budget constraints. There are few agencies using asset management
systems in Japan. However, all agencies must use their budgets
cost-effectively due to the constraints imposed by the recent economic
depression, and the current state of infrastructure built during a period
of high economic growth beginning in the1950s. This infrastructure not only
has structural deficiencies due to fatigue but also the facilities are
functionally obsolete compared with current standards. Japanese highway
agencies have to build asset management systems as soon as possible to
manage existing investments in an effective and efficient manner. Japanese
agencies also have an opportunity to learn from U.S. experiences and avoid
some of the failures experienced in the U.S., in developing asset
management systems.
Building on the experiences in the U.S. and Japan, this paper describes a
conceptual framework for an asset management system for use in Japan using
a Geographic Information System (GIS). This so called integrated management
system, serves as a decision support tool for all phases from surveying to
operation for Japanese highway infrastructure.